Jonathan Velardi Dot Com

After much tweaking here, there and everywhere; agonising over alignment to the nearest pixel (I kid you not) and surpassing limits of obsessive compulsion that even I had previously been unaware of, my journey through the (literally) unspoken land of HTML bares the conclusion of the last phase of mission-relaunch at jonathanvelardi.com

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Having introduced the first phase of redesign last year with a single homepage to access all my online activity, jonathanvelardi.com now offers all strands of my creative output to explore, bookmark and share with three distinctive 'V' identities. This final phase sees the launch of my dedicated writing site on Arts, Culture & Lifestyle with a curated selection of posts and articles that have been featured in online publications. Sample Portfolios are available to download and will be regularly updated with the latest reports on global creative activity.

In addition, my Contemporary Art site has had a fresh lick of pixels and the commercial arm of my practice under Studio Velardi now includes products and projects that have been developed and are evolving since its launch in 2012. Follow Studio Velardi on Twitter and Tumblr and help us celebrate our 1st Birthday in a few months time!

Last but by no means least, Pinterest joins @JMVELARDI and this very blog to cover high and low culture with the #highlife and #lowlife in glorious word and image. I hope you enjoy the new sites and I would love to hear what you think – get in touch #culturecomrades...

The Art Of Packing

This week I'm in Europe with Studio Velardi and before leaving for my first pit stop in Geneva, Switzerland I've been featured on the lifestyle blog I Am Packed. Founded earlier this year and sponsored by Air New Zealand, the site features a selection of items, packed and ready to go for any eventuality by travellers from around the world. 

I Am Packed provides the necessary association of contemporary-cool that brands, such as Air New Zealand, look for within social media. The unexpected submissions that resemble more art, than casual throw-in-a-suitcase snapshot, give both blog and airline the curatorial credentials that will have everyone admiring the art of packing. 

Check out what's inside my luggage between LHR and GVA here - more from Geneva on my return so until then, à bientôt tout le monde!

Thank You Cards

The curtains are beginning to be drawn on another year and with the chorus of Christmas now very much in the air, I thought it timely to share a personal seasonal message of my own before the clock strikes festive-mayhem and panic in a few weeks. I have been looking forward to the end of this year for some time and I may finally share with you, after a year in the making, news of the launch of my latest design collaboration with the charity, Thames Hospicecare.

Thames Hospicecare provides a palliative care service to those suffering from a terminal or life-limiting illness in my hometown of Windsor and Ascot in the Royal county of Berkshire. In 2009 my Mother, Lilli received the specialist care and support at the Hospice towards the end of her life after battling cancer for several years. I was guilty of projecting the stereotypes that many formulate around hospice care; it was not until my family had to access the support of the Hospice that I realised the overwhelming compassion and treatment that was received by all and how I am now deeply fortunate to hold what is a painful memory in a positive light.

I am eternally grateful to the Hospice's dedicated team of doctors and nurses as well as the bereavement support I received in the wake of my loss and at the realisation I no longer had family in Britain. I will never forget this time in my life and after much brainstorming on what I could do to say thank you, I approached Thames Hospicecare last year offering my design services. It therefore brings me great pleasure to announce a series of fundraising Christmas cards now available at Thames Hospicecare sites, shops across Berkshire and online. 

Fall In © 2012 - PURCHASE

Inspired by local and iconic scenes in this special year of both the Diamond Jubilee and Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as the Hospice's very own twenty-fifth anniversary, three contemporary designs depict Windsor Castle, the Copper Horse in Windsor Great Park and the serving soldiers that are synonymous with the town. I hope residents of Windsor and beyond will support Thames Hospicecare's invaluable work and ability to provide palliative care in East Berkshire through my exclusive designs during what is a vital source of income for the charity over the Christmas period. 

 Windsor Castle Christmas Presents & Let It Snow © 2012 (Twin Pack) - PURCHASE

If you have been bitten by the British bug this year, please look to independent charities this Holiday season such as Thames Hospicecare by visiting their Christmas catalogue - 100% proceeds from sales go directly to the Hospice.
  

View the Press Release for more on the collaboration and my personal story with Thames Hospicecare. 

Thank you very much for your support. 

Studio Velardi Joins Tumblr

Studio Velardi has officially joined the visual realm of Tumblr! As many of my readers will know I launched Studio Velardi - the commercial arm of my practice - earlier this year to offer a digital, traditional and bespoke creative design service (Introducing… March 2012). To mark my first leap into commercial product design, I created an exclusive collection of environmentally friendly stationery that explored British stereotype and illustrative paraphernalia that has been well received in Windsor, where the enterprise is based, in the heart of Royal Berkshire.

Complementing the enterprise’s online activity in both word and image, studiovelardi.tumblr.com will present a visual archive of product, projects and events as well as a comprehensive online portfolio of both identity and inspiration of an emerging brand; focusing on accessible, high quality design production that employs local manufacturers in the Royal county wherever possible and is resolutely made in England.

This weekend Studio Velardi returns to the Windsor Emporium on Sunday 7th October at The Guildhall, Windsor.

Visit studiovelardi.tumblr.com and follow @studiovelardi on Twitter for the latest news and updates on my whereabouts over the coming festive season. 

Opening Up

Where does one begin with yesterday's Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games? The wealth of imagery, and surprising education, that was injected into Isles of Wonder presented the trials and tribulations of British social history (and its global repercussions) - three centuries condensed into a three hour performance under the artistic direction over the last four years of Danny Boyle - captivated the world, as well as the British who now have a clear reflection in the pool of identity to look at. 
A formula of all three British traits; wit, spectacle and class, were not enough for the greatest show on earth. With the addition of a good helping of bonkers, or should I say Bond-kers, it was a unique ceremony with loaded juxtaposition of both the familiar and new introductions of brand GB that Boyle unashamedly offered on a molten platter to the sweet teeth of the world. This morning an American reporter commented on how Americans felt at home on British soil due to the growing closeness of popular culture and celebrity, that some will say is unfortunately shared in equal measure across the Atlantic. After yesterday night, twenty-first century America may feel differently towards a nation that is so drowning in iconic history, the Opening Ceremony could have lasted a whole week if it were possible due to Boyle's selective choice, and we even have our very own Abraham Lincoln in the shape of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, or Kenneth Branagh if all of this detail is getting too much for you. Given that thousands were invited to the technical rehearsals earlier this week, one can add another trait to being British: keeping a secret. Paramount to any Olympic Opening Ceremony is the power of image above the word; it was an evening of open access for all into the host nation's visual archives - from the private apartments of Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace, as well as a taste of her humour, to the core of the British psyche - a brand so complex it will have curious tourists wanting more for years to come. I am not going to attempt to tackle Boyle's narrative - you only need to access the global press to read credit and critique in every possible language - here's my humble take on a remarkably humbling night to remember...

An Artist's vision with an epic tale of British history to tell, featuring icons across eras and the everyday: priceless. 

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Diamond Jubilee X Studio Velardi

The countdown to The Queen's Diamond Jubilee has officially begun across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth and it's no different here in Windsor at Studio Velardi. In what is the same year I conceived the creative design enterprise, Studio Velardi marks Queen Elizabeth II's sixty year reign in 2012 with a new red, white and blue Twitter background and witty homepage design that goes live from today and for the duration of the Jubilee celebrations. 

This weekend Studio Velardi will be at a special Jubilee Windsor Emporium with my exclusive collection of environmentally friendly stationery on Sunday 3rd June at The Guildhall, Windsor - visit Windsor Emporium for more details and follow twitter.com/studiovelardi for the latest news on my whereabouts around Windsor and Berkshire. 

Connect the dots with the new homepage design at studiovelardi.com

All rights reserved © studiovelardi 2012

Introducing... Jonathan Velardi X Studio Velardi

Dear readers, Winter in Britain is firmly behind us and I think the saying ‘coming out of hibernation’ is rather appropriate given the recent Spring heat here on the Isles as well as the fact I have neglected my trusty blog of late. But I assure you there is good reason and I am therefore very excited to announce the redesign of my website jonathanvelardi.com  where all my online activity may now be found in one place. Art, Culture & Lifestyle Writing, Contemporary Art and my #highlife and #lowlife Blog and Twitter accounts are all represented in a new and fresh homepage design.

In addition, I have been working very hard over the last few months in setting up my own creative design enterprise under my personal direction. I have wanted to create a commercial arm of my professional practice for some time and I am very proud to introduce you all to this new line of design-based production that will evolve from commercial and private commissions and projects to merchandise and limited edition product under STUDIO VELARDI.

New logo for a new brand: Studio Velardi

A collection of environmentally friendly stationery will inaugurate the launch of Studio Velardi and will hopefully be available at a stockist near you in 2012. While it is too early to divulge details, I am particularly happy to say Studio Velardi is working on several projects later in the year and I look forward to sharing this news in the near future. So until then, please join the mailing list and follow @studiovelardi on Twitter for the latest updates or get in touch for all enquiries about my design services and products at info@studiovelardi.com

New Look

New week, new look. I'm currently busy working on setting up a new platform for all my practices and the first to get a fresh new logo is my beloved blog. Many of you will remember my post last August that launched the #highlife and #lowlife hashtags to encompass my own personal interests of art, culture and lifestyle that are presented through my online activity. 

Between The Lines - at the private opening of Michael Craig-Martin's 

graphic Pop sensibility on the New Art Centre estate, Salisbury

Many people ask me what it all means and I always reply that it can mean whatever you want it to mean - what I find interesting are the boundaries of high brow and low culture that are increasingly crossing over in the creative realm and I hope the hashtags will be used beyond their face value assumptions and stereotype of high and low culture. From art and design to lifestyle and taste, I hope the use of the hashtags on my own posts as well as my follower's social media activity will produce a record of views attributed to creative collaboration from around the world and the balancing act between exclusivity and the wealth of association that comes with it with popular consumer demand fuelled by profitable aspiration.

What's French for "Edgy"? - banlieue graffiti artist Kongo brings street style to 

French luxury house Hermès AW11 carré collection

I'm very interested in this concept of balance and the evolving interpretation of collaboration and expression and I intend to document high- and low- perception and the value of taste within twenty-first century society. I have interpreted this idea into my new blog logo as well as creating a couple of seesaw designs (below) that express this investigation, which I hope you will enjoy...

Get in touch and tell me what you think - you know the score, join me @JMVELARDI for the #highlife and #lowlife of the everyday...

Rolling Identity

Today sees the launch of my logo design for online art platform Unrealised Projects. In answer to their 'rolling identity' initiative which sees a variety of logo designs created by artists and illustrators as a source for web and print promotion that challenges idea of brand recognition, my design is presented in my trademark creole style with interlocking hoops that give a nod to the evolving and rolling concept. 

Visit Unrealised Projects for more information about their rolling identity programme - further details on my art and design practice may be viewed at jonathanvelardi.com

Library Brass: Smith Vol. 2

Library Brass has officially launched its new jewellery collection Smith Vol.2. Last month I was asked by the Taiwanese brand's designer Chiayi Chuang to art direct the new collection's campaign in London (Backstage At Library Brass, October 2011) and it's great to see all the shots together in series - a balance of high concept and contemporary styling that express the brand's narrative for its third collection of 'aristocratic excess' and 'noble conquests' in gold plated brass, silk velvets and multi-coloured crystals. 

The full campaign can be viewed at Library Brass and visit the brand's blog site here for all the latest news and information on events and stockists in Asia and beyond... 

Backstage At Library Brass

Aristocratic excess and noble conquests were on the cards at last week's photo shoot in East London for the new jewellery collection by Library Brass, designed by Chiayi Chuang. Before the studio lights were even turned on, it was to be a summer renaissance at the creative hub of Enterprise House E9 - the talented team consisted of Sandra Made, photographer, hair and makeup artist, Inga Pivena, model Gerda K and myself as art director for the brand's third collection of contemporary statement pieces.

Here is a taste of what we got up to... 

 

Library Brass

This week I’m very excited to be working with jewellery brand Library Brass. I will be art directing the photographic campaigns for the Taiwanese brand on its forthcoming collection in London. Designed by the über talented Chiayi Chuang, this will be Library Brass’s third collection and the brand is growing from strength to strength with its trademark use of various materials from fabric to brass chains and decorative objects that are thoughtfully and intricately intertwined to create contemporary statement pieces, inspired by their designer’s artistic background as a performance artist.

Don’t miss posts and photos from the shoot throughout the week – until then, follow @JMVELARDI for all the latest #highlife news on set and visit Library Brass for more information about this new and exciting jewellery line which will be landing in London soon – don’t forget you heard it here first!